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JPS Invests $25m In Storage Facility To Address Power Fluctuations

(Jamaica Gleaner, Steven Jackson, 14.Apr.2019) — Power utility Jamaica Public Service Company, JPS, will commission a US$25 million storage facility in phases this year as a safeguard against power outages.

The
24.5 megawatt plant, the first of its kind for Jamaica, will be installed at
the company’s Hunt’s Bay power station in Kingston.

“We
expect to get some of it functional by the second quarter of this year,” Blaine
Jarrett, JPS vice president of energy delivery, said Thursday. That period
would be anywhere between now and June.

The
full commissioning of the storage facility will occur before year end. It will
act like a giant battery that charges when solar or wind-energy plants generate
energy, and release power during low periods of renewable power generation,
arising from cloud cover or low wind speeds.

Renewables
as a source of electricity, both generated by JPS and its independent power
providers, have been incorporated into the national grid since 2016. The result
was cleaner fuel but fluctuating power during low periods.

The
storage facility will allow the company to maintain consistent power supply and
curtail the power fluctuations. Jarrett said customers in Manchester and its
environs will benefit from less power cuts following the installation of the
storage facility.

Peak
energy usage in Jamaica occurs between 6.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m., which matches
the time that solar plants reduce power generation, according to previous
disclosures by JPS. Additionally, wind farms optimally generate power at nights
but after peak periods. The energy at the new facility would be brought into
play at peak periods, utilising the power already stored.

The
project arose out of board discussions at JPS in mid-2017, on the need to
develop a hybrid energy storage solution in consultation with the Office of
Utilities Regulation.

The
addition of renewable to the grid is part of a energy diversification programme
that sees JPS moving away from heavy fuel oil and rebalancing the energy mix
with natural gas as well as cleaner fuels.

JPS
currently generates 11 per cent of its power from renewables, and 50 per cent
from LNG. The power utility expects to increase its reliance on LNG to some 80
per cent in five years.